


For your sisters and brothers

by Beleriandings



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Cats, Gen, Modern AU, Siblings, Stressed students
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2014-12-05
Packaged: 2018-02-28 04:57:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2719517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beleriandings/pseuds/Beleriandings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Turgon is feeling the exam stress setting in. Fingon and Aredhel stage a daring rescue operation. There are cats and muffins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For your sisters and brothers

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Dancing with my punchlines](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2106315) by [LiveOakWithMoss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveOakWithMoss/pseuds/LiveOakWithMoss). 



> Set in LiveOakWithMoss' wonderful Dancing With My Punchlines verse (here http://archiveofourown.org/works/2106315/chapters/4593480 and here http://archiveofourown.org/series/148653) which you should definitely read because it's so great. I am so happy to be able to play in this fantastic modern AU sandbox, and I owe many hours of happy reading to its author, of course.

The letters and bright blocks of colour on the screen seemed to swim and move in front of Turgon’s eyes, making his head ache as he realised he had been reading the same slide over and over without even registering the words. Leaning forward with a quiet groan, he pressed the heals of his hands over his eyes, before raising his head to look up at the clock.

02:23 said his laptop, flicking to 02:24 even as he watched.

 _How had he not managed to do more today?_  He pressed his fingers against his temples, trying to breathe slowly and evenly even as he felt the headache building there.  _No, not not now, not when I still have to go through the rest of these lecture slides… maybe another cup of coffee would help…_

There was a knock on the door.

Gritting his teeth, Turgon wondered if it was someone who knew well enough which window in the block was his to spot the light from the street and know that he was in. If it was a stranger, he could easily be out. _I could be socialising and drinking and talking and having a good time, like so many others seemed to do, and they still managed to pass their exams… must be something wrong with me…_ Turgon laid his head in his arms, making up his mind. He wouldn’t answer it. He would just pretend not to be home.

The knock came again.

Resolutely, Turgon stared back at the presentation open on his laptop, before flipping back a couple of slides with a sigh.

“Turno!”

“Turno, you’re doing that  _thing_  again. I know you’re in there” said a second voice. The knock again, more insistent. “Open up.”

He groaned.  _Finno and Irissë_. Wearily, he got to his feet and went to open the door.

Sure enough, his brother and sister were there on the step, wrapped in several layers of handknitted sweaters and scarves each. Fingon held a large _something_  swathed in another scarf, and Aredhel carried a rucksack.

“Turno.” Aredhel raised an eyebrow. “You look awful.”

Turgon narrowed his eyes, still holding the door. “Thanks. That’s charming of you to say.”

“What she  _means_  is” said Fingon, “that we’ve come to rescue you.”

“I was studying for my exam. Not that you would know much about - ”

“I’m going to choose to take that in the sense of  _you’re no longer a student_ , rather than  _you never did any work in college_ ” said Fingon, breezily. “No, but seriously, Turno. It’s half past two in the morning, you can’t possibly be absorbing anything new now. Even Ingo says he hasn’t seen you in days. Besides, I thought mom said you told her your next exam isn’t until next week?”

“It’s not” admitted Turgon, “but that doesn’t mean - ”

“If you were pulling an allnighter for an exam tomorrow” said Aredhel, barging past him through the door, “then it might be different. You don’t disturb someone when they’re doing that; that’s not cool. But Turno, it’s the _weekend_  tomorrow. And we haven’t heard from you in days. We wanted to make sure you’re not getting too…” she thought for a moment, looking at his wild, unkempt hair and the shadows under his eyes “…too stressed out.”

“I’m fine. I don’t get stressed out.”

Fingon closed the door, put down the bundle he was carrying and pulled Turgon into a tight hug. “That’s a lie and you know it, little brother.”

“Augh” said Turgon. “Break my ribs, why don’t you. And who are you calling _little_?”

"There we go. Short jokes. That’s the insufferable Turno we all know and love."

“Come on” said Aredhel, swinging her rucksack off her back and bounding off down the hall eagerly. She switched on the lights in the kitchen. Fingon was unravelling his scarf and shedding layers of knitwear with some difficulty as they went.

“What’s that?” Turgon eyed the bundle that he was balancing precariously in his arms with resigned curiosity. “Do you want me to - ”

“All will be revealed” said Fingon cheerily, dumping his warm outdoor clothes onto the kitchen counter, even as Aredhel put the kettle on and pulled a laptop from her bag.

 “Turno, did you change the wifi network name again?”

“The new one’s HIDDENCITYNET. All caps.”

She rolled her eyes. “And the password? I take it you changed that too?”

“It’s good to change them every so often! More secure that way. It’s wAt3rspEaKS777%.”

“You massive nerd.”

“Thanks, Irissë.”

“That’s nothing” said Finno. “Irissë, remember Curvo’s wifi passwords?”

She grimaced, rooting around in Turgon’s cupboard for a mug and pouring water over a teabag. “Oh god yeah. Actually, wait, no. That was the worst thing about them.” She grinned suddenly. “Aaaaaand we’re connected!”

“What’re you doing?”

“Turno” said Fingon, distracting him, “I brought you a few things.” He unwrapped the bundle, and inside was a bag containing an array of plastic food boxes. “Muffins” he said, opening the largest. “Essential for studying.” He grinned. “Nerdanel’s recipe, actually, except I used cranberries instead of blueberries. I know you don’t like blueberries, and they had an absolute ton of cranberries in all the shops at this time of year. They might be kinda sour, but…”

Turgon eyed the muffins, suspiciously. “Finno… you baked these? For me?”

“Last night at about midnight after work, yes. See how much I love you?”

“He’s all alone in the house while Maitimo’s gone home to his parents” explained Aredhel, handing Turgon a mug of peppermint tea. “He gets sad.”

“I’m  _not_  sad. Thought I could learn to bake while Maitimo’s gone, and surprise him with cake when he gets back!”

Turgon raised an eyebrow. “So… I’m the experimental subject.”

Fingon looked hurt. “Well, when you put it like that…”

“Oh, come on Turno” said Aredhel, taking a muffin and biting into it. “He’s being nice. Hey, Finno, these are actually pretty damn good!”

“No need to sound so surprised” grumbled Fingon, but he smiled as Turgon took a muffin. He pointed at the bag. “There’s lots of different kinds of tea, and hot chocolate, and cherry truffles, the kind from that little shop by home that you like. As well as mom’s latkes. Oh, and mom also insisted we include all the fresh fruit we could get our hands on at this time of year. Doctor’s orders. And she also says to cut down on the energy drinks, because you know they make your headaches worse.”

Turgon looked a little chastened. He sipped his tea and looked at Aredhel. “And the laptop? I don’t have time to marathon Disney movies with you this time if that’s what you - ”

“Don’t be silly” she said, pulling up Skype. “Ah, yes, the kid’s online. Good.” She clicked, and they listened to the ringing. “Hey, Arko!”

Argon’s face appeared on the screen. “Hey guys. Turno! You’re not dead!”

Turgon smiled wearily. “Nope. Not yet anyway.”

“Always good to hear.”

“Thanks Arko. I’m glad you’re not dead either.”

“Hella sweet of you to say. Anyway, though, this call isn’t really about me. I’ve got a very  _special guest_  on the line!”

He leaned out of shot for a moment. “Come here, baby. Come say hi to your favourite dork.” A big grey and black cat leapt lightly onto the desk in front of Argon, pawing at the keyboard.

Turgon brightened, setting his mug of tea aside. “Aelin!”

The cat purred, curling up in front of the keyboard. Argon grinned, stroking her ears. “Knew you’d like to see her, even though you’re not allowed to bring her to where you live. Remember how she would always go to sleep on you when you got yourself too caught up in schoolwork?”

 _The purring and her warm weight always made me feel calmer_ , Turgon remembered. “Sure do. Thanks, Arko.” He felt a smile on his face.

“No problem. Oh, and did you get my text?”

“Um… no?” He hadn’t checked his texts, if truth be told.

“Heh, typical.” Argon rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. “But yeah, what it said was, Gíl had kittens!”

“You’re kidding!  _Again?_ ”

“Yep. House is overrun with cats once more.”

“Aikanáro says he wants to adopt one” said Fingon. “He told me to tell you.”

“You should never adopt a post-break-up cat” said Aredhel, frowning.

“Well, let him wait a while then” said Turgon. “They’ll still be there, probably.”

“Or there’ll be more” said Argon. “Anyway, I should go now. Turno, good luck with your exams, right? Don’t beat yourself up over it. And see you in a week.”

“Bye, Arko.”

“Bye, big brother.”

“Anyway” said Fingon, when the call had disconnected. “Turno, I think you should go to sleep now.”

Turgon frowned. “I was just studying - ”

“Tomorrow” said Fingon firmly. “You of all people should know your brain’s not great at absorbing things at this crazy hour of the night. Come on.”

Aredhel and Fingon marched him gently but firmly to his room and stood guard as he changed into his pyjamas, before pulling the covers up around him. He looked briefly at the laptop on the desk, surrounded by empty coffee mugs, until Aredhel shut it determinedly. “Nope. Don’t even think about it.”

Turgon nodded resignedly, suddenly realising quite how tired he was. The peppermint tea had left him warm and sleepy. “Don’t you have work in the morning, Finno?”

“Yep.”

“But you’re here?”

“You matter to me, Turno.” Fingon grinned. “Besides, when Maitimo and I lived apart, I got surprisingly accustomed to travelling around late at night and not getting much sleep - ”

“Okay, okay” said Turgon hastily. “I don’t really need the details.”

“Go to sleep” said Aredhel. “I promise you’ll feel better in the morning. We can let ourselves out.”

Turgon nodded sleepily. “Guys… thanks.”

“Any time.”


End file.
